


Pride, Faith, Heart and Soul

by Asrael_Valtiri



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drinking, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, Hux in Heels, M/M, Sloppy Makeouts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 19:00:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20363488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asrael_Valtiri/pseuds/Asrael_Valtiri
Summary: For Kylux xoxo Summer Fest 2019- Summer Love Prompt. I chose Sweet/Band/RollSummer is the time for having fun. And clearly Ren needs to have more fun. So Hux convinces Ren to attend a party with him, but Ren isn’t really the partying type. Hux means to change that. Two dollar mystery shots to the rescue!





	Pride, Faith, Heart and Soul

“It’s hot as fuck in here,” Ren said, staring in horror at the sea of colorfully dressed bodies. How many people could you fit into a third floor industrial loft space? The answer was… a lot.

Hux handed ten dollars to the guy at the door, for both himself and Ren. Of course Ren had forgotten his wallet.

“I’ll buy us drinks,” Hux said. Getting Ren to relax was the only hope of this evening not turning into a total disaster, and Hux was on it. 

He strode purposefully through the tightly packed crowd with Ren stalking after him. Already the room smelled like booze and sweaty bodies, and that smell was guaranteed to become more pungent as the night wore on. Even for a party space, the Dreadnought had a particularly memorable smell. It had high ceilings, sticky cement floors, and had been a brewery literally a hundred years ago. It was freezing in the winter, boiling hot in the summer, and always awesome no matter the season. 

Hux put his fist on the bar, and quickly scanned their options. The pickings were, in a word, slim. What could he order that Ren would actually drink? The problem was he’d never really seen Ren drink before, except for last Christmas when their roommate Phasma made chocolate martinis and Ren grudgingly drank one and he said it wasn’t bad. However, there were no chocolate martinis to be had at the Dreadnought. From what Hux could tell, Ren liked sweet. There was PBR in a can, but Hux couldn’t imagine Ren drinking beer. There was wretchedly cheap red wine, and that wasn’t even an option. Bottles of bottom shelf whiskey, vodka, rum… And that’s when he spotted it. The sign read “$2 mystery shots.” Excellent.

“This sucks,” Ren muttered. “The bar is busy as fuck.” 

This wasn’t good. They had just arrived and already Ren was getting discouraged. Discouraged was just one step away from defeated, which was just one step away from angry. And Hux did not want angry. He had finally convinced Ren to come out with him. The last thing he wanted was for Ren to make a scene. 

“Hey!” Ren growled at the lone bartender as she passed them for what seemed like the one hundredth time. Ren slammed his fist down on the counter. 

“Fuck this place,” he said darkly. “Let’s go, Hux.”

Hux firmly placed his hand over Ren’s hand. Hux had painted his nails to perfection in anticipation of tonight. The polish was smooth and pink and pearly, to match his pink leg warmers that he was wearing over gold skin tight American Apparel (RIP) leggings that he had borrowed from Phasma. No, he was not going to have spent all that time getting ready for a fabulous night out just to go home now. The show hadn’t even started yet.

“It’s going to be fun, Ren,” Hux said, his voice confident, professional. When it came to dealing with Ren, it was best to be in command of the situation at all times. “Let me buy you a drink. I will take care of this.”

Hux was used to dealing with Ren’s social anxiety. When Hux and Phasma threw parties at their first floor apartment, Ren typically stayed in his bedroom with the door closed. He would occasionally emerge from his lair to grab a bottled water or Coke from the fridge, or go to the bathroom, but that was it, and the door closed again. He was like a phantom. All their friends joked about how they didn’t even know what Ren looked like. It was a miracle that Hux had convinced Ren to come out at all. He had to make sure it was worth Ren’s time. If he could just get Ren to loosen up…. Maybe he could find out something new about his mysterious friend and roommate. What if Ren secretly liked dancing? Maybe that was what Ren was doing in his room with the door closed. Probably not. It was hard to imagine. But seeing Ren dance… Priceless.

Hux held up a fat pile of dollar bills and made eye contact with the bartender, flashing her a winning smile. “Two mystery shots!” he said loudly. She nodded and poured something from a random opaque bottle into two shot glasses. He left ten dollars on the counter. “Thank you!” he said but she was already on to the next person. He handed Ren a shot glass, and the glass looked extra tiny in Ren’s huge hand. Which was actually adorable. He had certainly never seen Ren take a shot before.

Hux was going to enjoy this. 

He held up his shot glass.

“Cheers!” he said, and downed it. 

“Hey!” Ren said, annoyed that Hux had beat him to it. Ren was nothing if not competitive, and not wanting to be outdone, he quickly downed his shot too.

“Ah, good,” thought Hux. Everything was going according to plan.

“Oh my god!” Ren sputtered. “What was that? Cough syrup?”

Hux laughed at the disgusted expression on Ren’s face.

“That was horrific!” Hux said.

He held up his handful of bills again. “Two more mystery shots!” he shouted at the bartender who was looking vaguely in his direction. She nodded. Again, she shoved shots at him and he her left ten more dollars. 

“To you,” he said, brandishing his shot at Ren. 

“Me?” said Ren. “Why me? What did I do to deserve this? You’ve got to be kidding me. You really want another one of these?”

Hux downed his shot in answer.

“Hey!” Ren laughed, choking his down. “The second one was worse if that is even possible! Oh my fucking god!”

Ren started choking and coughing at the same time.

And. It. Was. So. Cute.

Hux couldn’t remember the last time he had seen Ren smile. Ren was wearing the same old black jeans and black t-shirt that he wore every day (other than the black hooded bathrobe that he wore when he was fresh from the shower), but the smile he was now wearing on his face was completely new. 

Ren was smiling. 

And drinking. 

This was officially a special occasion. 

Which meant they needed to celebrate with… Another drink, of course. 

“One more,” said Hux, “and then we’ll make our way up front. Let’s try something different this time…”

“Okay!” Ren said, his pale face becoming flushed. His black t-shirt was damp around the pits and chest. Ren really was a very sweaty man. Sweaty in the most delicious way. Hux found himself openly staring, admiring Ren’s big, shapely, sweaty chest. He wanted his hands under that t-shirt, wanted to rub himself all over it, lap up the sweat with his tongue.

Yes, Hux was indeed lusting after his sexy roommate, as usual. Thankfully, Ren was so dense and/or clueless that Hux was ninety-nine percent certain that Ren had never noticed. Phasma swore that Ren had to be a virgin. Hux found this hard to believe and yet… Ren had never expressed interest in anyone, male or female, at least not to Hux’s knowledge. But surely, a big, strapping, handsome boy like Ren, surely he had been with at least a girl or two. But what if Phasma was right? Hux had always assumed Ren was straight, but Phasma wasn’t so sure. What if she was right about that too?

“Am I already drunk?” Hux thought, feeling flustered, a flush creeping up his neck, from his chest to his cheeks.

“Not after two shots. Drunk with love, perhaps,” he thought grimly. 

With renewed determination, Hux held up his wad of bills and the bartender instantly materialized, despite the greedy, thirsty, overheated crowd that was pressing in ever closer. This time, she smiled.

“What’ll it be?” she shouted.

There were a few bottles behind her. They all looked disgusting. Vanilla vodka was probably the least disgusting, if that tells you anything. 

“Two double vanilla vodka and Cokes, please!”

“Sure!”

Oh god. Hux had not had any kind of vodka and Coke since college. Still, he was doing it for Ren. He wanted to encourage Ren, and if that meant drinking flavored vodka, so be it. 

The bartender pulled two pint glasses, scooped up a little ice, and filled the glasses almost to the top with vodka.

“Good lord,” Hux breathed. To say that the pour was generous would be the understatement of the century. She might has well have just handed them the whole bottle. She topped it off with a splash of Coke. 

“That’ll be ten!” she said.

“Fantastic,” said Hux, leaving the rest of his cash on the bar. He picked up the drinks and handed one to Ren. 

“Shall we?” he said, turning on his heel and beginning the arduous trek to the front of the stage. 

“Wait!” Ren shouted, holding up his glass. Hux looked back over his shoulder.

“To you,” Ren said.

“Oh, to me?” Hux said coquettishly, licking his lips, suddenly bashful, running a hand through his red hair. 

Why was he so embarrassed? Who cared if he was flirting with his roommate? So what, they were just joking around.

God, Ren had the best lips. So kissable. You just wanted to nibble on them, to lick them and bite them and eat them all up. 

“Yeah,” Ren said. “To you. To uh… To you and your um cool shoes.”

“They’re Phasma’s!” Hux laughed. “We wear the same size!”

They were gold ankle boots with high heels, matched the leggings.

“They look better on you,” Ren said.

“Ha ha! Thank you! I’ve always thought I looked stunning in heels.”

What was even happening right now? Ren didn’t go around giving out compliments. Were they actually flirting? WTF?! 

They clinked their glasses together, smiling like idiots, and took a swig in unison.

“That’s really good!” Ren said enthusiastically.

“I know!” said Hux. And it was good. Even thought it was sickly sweet. And actually disgusting. And actually Hux was certain it was the best drink he’d ever had.

**

Starkiller was currently one of Hux’s favorite local bands. They were weird, wild, and dancey as hell. They were super queer, a bunch of dudes or whatever dressed very much like Hux was at the moment. Except with less clothing. The audience would be ogling a muscley dude in a speedo and lipstick before this night was over; it was a certainty. 

Going in, Hux had no idea what Ren would make of it, since this wasn’t really Ren’s scene. (Then again, what was Ren’s scene? Sitting in their apartment, watching MST3K and playing the Sims?) But Ren seemed to be having a great time. For fuck’s sake, the impossible was happening! Ren was dancing! If you could call it dancing. He was kind of bopping, his legs were bending weirdly at the knees and his arms were swinging around with no rhythm whatsoever. It was beyond precious. From all Hux could tell Ren was having a blast. Either that or the two mystery shots and the world’s strongest vanilla vod and coke had really kicked in.

It had definitely kicked in for Hux. Hux was no lightweight (for crying out loud, he was British) but everything was fuzzy. Or was it furry? A furry kind of fuzzy. His face felt fuzzy. Furry. Fappy. Fappy? Happy. He was so happy! Everything, everyone was so beautiful. Especially Ren. 

Hux danced to the rad tunes with abandon, letting the music carry him away, making sure to bump into Ren as much as possible, making sure that his hand “accidentally” brushed Ren’s thigh a million times. 

Suddenly, he stumbled. Someone had punched him in the arm. Hard. He scowled. His poor little arm!

He turned, ready to give whatever idiot had punched him a withering look, and that's when he saw the telltale goggles worn on top of the head combined with the stereotypical plaid flannel shirt and ripped jeans. 

Of course, the Scavenger was here. 

Hux rolled his eyes. He had no idea what her real name was. She was a deejay and played under the name the Scavenger. That was really all he knew about her, except for the fact that she was also pretty much the biggest lesbian ever, even next to Phasma. Hux never understood why she liked to mess with him, but for some reason his very existence seemed to amuse her. It was all rather annoying. 

“Hey Hux! Nice ass!” she said over the music. “Those pants leave nothing to the imagination. I can absolutely see the outline of your dick. Anyway, who’s your new friend?”

“Scavenger!” Hux said. “What a pleasant surprise. I can absolutely smell on your breath that you had tacos for lunch.”

“And dinner,” she corrected. 

“And dinner, of course. Scavenger, this is my roommate, Ren. Ren, this is the Scavenger.”

“Uh?” Ren said, staring at them both, still half-assedly bopping to the music but also trying to process the fact that Hux was talking to him and he needed to say something. “Uh, hello.”

To be honest, Ren looked… not smart. If Hux was buzzed (okay Hux wasn’t just buzzed, he was, indeed, drunk) then Ren was well… three sheets to the wind would be putting it mildly. More like five sheets to the wind, minimum.

“Roommate?” said the Scavenger, appalled. “I thought you were dating. Come on, you have to be a couple. You look so perfect together.” 

“We’re friends,” Hux said. “What’s wrong with that? Do you think I’m incapable of being just friends with a beautiful man?”

“Yes, you are absolutely incapable,” said the Scavenger. 

“Well, we are just friends,” said Hux petulantly, and the more he insisted the more flustered he became. His cheeks were burning and he felt like he was going to barf. Damn that girl!

“Ha ha, friends, yeah right. Come on, you guys should make out.”

“Excuse me?” said Hux.

“What the hell?” said Ren. 

“Don’t make me say it twice. You guys should make out. Just do it.”

Hux looked at Ren, and Ren looked at Hux. 

It’s hard to say what happened next or who made the first move, but before either of them knew it, Hux had grabbed Ren’s giant head and Ren had grabbed Hux’s not-so-giant ass, and Hux was digging his fingers into Ren’s sweaty black hair, and it was all a blur as their lips and teeth crashed together, and they were sucking at eachother’s lips like there was no tomorrow, and the noises that were coming out of them were less than elegant. Ren’s hot tongue was in Hux’s hot mouth and it felt like it was searching for something, like it was desperate to taste him, and now Hux’s hands were on Ren’s chest, feeling for his nipples, and Ren’s hands were sliding all around, touching everywhere and everything, including Hux’s erection.

“Yes!” the Scavenger yelled, throwing her fist in the air triumphantly. “You guys are disgusting but awesome!”

**

They stumbled down the stairs, out of the Dreadnought, and into the hot, sticky summer night, although compared to the oven-like temperature inside of the Dreadnought, this was nothing. The cloyingly warm night breeze was actually quite refreshing. They were drenched in sweat and reeked of booze and damn it felt great to finally be outside.

The walk home was a blur. The city was beautiful. Hux took off his heels, Ren carried them, Ren tried to carry Hux but kept tripping on his own feet, Hux tried to carry Ren which was just ridiculous, Ren took off his shirt and somehow lost it, but at least Ren didn’t lose the heels, thank god, because Phasma would have killed them.

Finally, they ended up back on their front porch. It was after midnight, and they were having an animated discussion about whether it really rained every day in Hux’s hometown. 

“Of course it rained every day,” Hux gestured broadly. “It wasn’t Downton Abbey, so just get that picture out of your mind. Do you know what children did for fun in my hometown? They threw rocks at each other. And our parents encouraged it!”

“But wait, don’t all kids do that?” said Ren.

Forgetting what they were even talking about, Hux flung himself into one of the wicker patio chairs. He was still quite (in other words very) buzzed. Should he mention the “You Know What” (AKA “The Kiss”) to Ren? They hadn’t mentioned it since it happened, but Hux very much wanted to continue where they left off, perhaps with less clothing, perhaps as soon as they got inside. Had Ren enjoyed that filthy make out session as much as Hux had? Hux was determined to find out. 

But first, he needed a smoke. 

He pulled his lighter, rolling papers, and bag of loose American Spirit tobacco out of his fanny pack, and began to deftly roll two cigarettes, one for himself and one for Ren. He had never seen Ren smoke before, but tonight was a night of firsts.

“Ren, have a cigarette with me before we go in.” 

“Huh?” said Ren. He was standing with his back to Hux and pissing off the porch. “Yeah, a smoke sounds good.”

“Well come and get it then.” Hux put his own cigarette between his lips and lit it and held out Ren’s. He crossed his legs and imagined that he must look exactly like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. 

Oh yes, this was something he couldn’t wait to see. He wanted to put that cigarette between those big, obscene lips, and light it, and just watch it burn. As Hux was fantasizing, Ren made a move to sit down while leaning forward to take the offered cigarette in his lips. but somehow he missed both the cigarette and chair entirely. He flailed and reached for the table, pulling it over on top of him, and of course it was one of those cheap metal patio tables with the glass top, and of course the glass shattered all over him.

“Uh, what? Uh, holy shit!” Ren said, sitting there on the porch on his ass, surrounded by broken glass. 

“Oh my god! Ren!” Hux stumbled to his feet. “Are you all right? Don’t move, you’ll cut yourself. Here, let me help you.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry. I broke the table.”

“It’s fine. We’ll get a new one. Here, take my hand. Slowly now, don’t touch anything, let me help you.”

“I should clean it up.”

“We’ll clean it up later.”

Hux pulled Ren up carefully, and although he was drunk, suddenly everything came into sharp focus and he was able to extract Ren, the giant drunken oaf, from the pile of broken glass without either of them getting cut, which was no small feat considering that Hux was still barefoot. 

Hux always had been good in a crisis. 

“Hux,” Ren said as they stumbled through the front door. “That was really fun. Did you have fun?”

“I did, Ren. I did.”

“Hux, I--” Ren was leaning heavily on Hux, their heads were touching, their lips were so very close. “Hux, I think I might… I might…”

“Yes?” Hux breathed.

And the world stopped.

He suddenly felt rather sober.

Was Ren going to say what Hux had been feeling all night? What Hux had been feeling ever since he met Ren, to be honest, since that very first day. No, surely not. Surely Ren wasn’t going to say “I love you.” And yet, Hux couldn’t help but hope.

“Say it,” willed Hux. “Say it now, or else I’m going to say it!” he thought to himself.

“Hux, I think I’m going to throw up.”

And he did. Multiple times.

They spend a good hour on the bathroom floor, Ren leaned over the toilet, Hux holding his hair, rubbing his back. Later, they fell asleep in Hux’s bed. Nothing happened except for sleeping and they both felt like shit the next day. They had coffee and even managed to choke down some cereal, and as they sat on the couch watching another episode of MST3K, Hux caught Ren smiling. And Hux smiled back.

He scooted closer on the couch. Before, they had always kept to their own sides, with a space between them, but now, Hux’s hand was touching Ren’s. Hux couldn’t help himself. He took Ren’s hand. Maybe this was a mistake, but he wanted so badly to watch TV together with Ren, to hold his hand. And maybe, just maybe, Ren wanted it too.

“Is this okay?” said Hux. They were sober now. What if Ren was repulsed? What if--

“Yeah. It’s good.”

And he squeezed Hux’s hand, moved closer, and their lips met, and once again Hux wasn’t sure who had moved in for the kiss first, and on the TV Joel, Crow, and Tom Servo were stuck watching the terrible old movie alone because Hux and Ren had better things to do. 

**Author's Note:**

> I thought our boys needed to have a magical summer night, the kind of intoxicating (literally!) night that everyone should have at least once while they are in their twenties. Thanks so much for reading!


End file.
